Running for a reason

Last weekend while some of us were enjoying a Massive Attack of Kraftwerk and the outer spacial costumery delights of Bestival on the Isle of Wight, Jen was in Nottingham running the 13 mile Robin Hood half marathon for The National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease. She says she really enjoyed the experience, but isn't convinced her knees did!



Meanwhile the Koo twins are making excellent progress, and if any of you were wondering about their sameness take a look at this and tell me you are still wondering!

Twins

I know it's been a long time but we've been busy!

Anyway you don't want to hear about that now do you? You want a first glimpse of Koo's twins Ruby and Maiya who made their way into the world in the early morning of September 3rd. Identical they are too!

There's going to be some fun in the Bhangra household from here on in we think. Big sister Harmony is going to have to keep a watchful eye on those two!

The Design Leicestershire book launch... takes off!

We were pleased to be invited along to the Design Leicestershire book launch last night. There was a real buzz at Athena, Leicester with a room full of the county’s talent.

The Design Leicestershire book is a beautiful and impressive record of the creative capacity of designers and architects practicing in Leicestershire and Rutland, and of the world-class research at our three universities. We are proud to be one of the companies featured in the book with 2 feature pages of our work inside; our Igniting Ambition branding for the Cultural Olympiad, East Midlands (p205) and the community project the 'Fabulous' book for People Express (p222).

Design Leicestershire isn’t just a book though - it’s a movement! It aims to document and promote the innovative and creative skills Leicestershire has to offer to local, national and international markets - maximising potential all round.

The event itself was kicked off with a glass of bubbles to celebrate the launch and followed by an impressive line up of speakers including Sir George Cox and ending with some delicious canapés and an opportunity to network. We all left with an air of excitement, armed with our own copy of the book (it’s heavy!), a goody bag including one of the companies featured - Fiona Cairnes' fairy cake (very yummy), and not to forget the Design Leicestershire branded yellow umbrella.

Whether you get your hands on the book, visit the website (www.designleicestershire.com), or get involved, you’ll notice a very yellow theme throughout – we love it!

Rare Company would like to thank all those involved who have made this book and its aspirations possible.

Colour schemes and themes

We've recently found a website that is a useful design resource when researching colour schemes for projects. If you find one that fits the bill, you can download the colour tables for Photoshop, Illustrator, HTML cascading stylesheets and so on.

One called 'Mountain Dawn' is taken from a holiday photograph, "The dark from above in the high sky becomes the warm orange when hitting the mountain tops, warming the earth in the early morning." Ah!

Arabian belly dancing colour scheme anyone?

http://beta.dailycolorscheme.com

Rare Company selected for the Recommended Agency Register

We're really pleased to announce we have passed through the recommendation process and been selected to feature in the Recommended Agency Register.

RAR (!) independently reviews design agencies' skills, capabilities and financial status and asks their clients to complete surveys and provide ratings in the areas of Account Handling, Creativity, Value for Money, Strategic Thinking and Overall Professionalism.

Many thanks to our clients who have contributed to our success.

www.agencyregister.co.uk

Stuff we like #4

Heat sensitive wallpaper.

Recently when devising a concept for a new client, we thought of using heat sensitive inks (top secret project at the moment). During our research, we came across a notable use that has been made of this 'technology', in the field of interior design.

Designer Shi Yuan's wallpaper seen below literally blossoms into life from the warmth of a radiator. As the name suggests, the heat sensitive inks reacts to the warmth and trigger a colour change making red blooms appear. Wow!

Iodine exposure

Bombay Mix asked if they could use a still from our "iodine" video which we made for Satsangi for their website front page. We said "yes"! www.bombaymix.org

Iodine has been shown on MTV World, on BBC Big Screens nationwide and in other film and video festivals. To view the video go to: www.rarecompany.co.uk/iodine

We continue to work with Satsangi who have recently been interviewed by Rolling Stone Magazine India. A five city tour of India is in the planning stage and an album is being recorded. Each track of the album will be accompanied by a Rare Company film as will their major live performances.

Bombay Mix is based in south east London and stages various screenings and events, presenting films and arts concerning the entire Indian subcontinent and South Asian people worldwide.

Rare Company wins rebranding of National Centre for Citizenship and Law.

We're delighted to have been selected to re-brand NCCL after a successful credentials pitch undertaken last week.

Currently housed alongside The Galleries of Justice in Nottingham, the NCCL works at a national level with young people and their schools, families and communities, providing them with good citizenship models to prevent and divert crime and anti-social behaviour.

Rare Company will work closely with the organisation over the coming weeks to re-develop its identity and its ongoing application, being also tasked with the production of a new website. The website will follow the new brand guidelines and incorporate a wealth of improved features and useability, including a content management system, and young people's zone.

Sins Exhibition Opening.

Here's Koo now the private view is over....














Sins runs until April 25th at Leicester City Art Gallery - catch it whilst you can.

Rich Mix's Fresh Cuts.

After firmly establishing this East London-based cultural centre's branding over the last 18 months, here's the latest season brochure for Spring/Summer 09.

See the brochure as a pdf here.